May 14, 2019
Back in Madrid
Aranjuez to Burgos by Trains
A woke after a windy night, knowing if I got an early train to Madrid, I maybe have enough time to collect my delayed gear, post items I didn’t need home, vote at the Australian Embassy and then get a 12:20 train to Burgos arriving at 5pm instead of leaving Madrid at 5pm and getting in at 10pm. Local train from Aranjuez to Madrid was clean, had plenty of room for bicycles and allowed me to be into Madrid before 9am.
Back at my warmshower host apartment in Madrid, Renata's friend Maria let me back in and I was able to finally see my second pannier bag and my Australian bike helmet. Went through all my combined gear sorting through deciding what to post home. From my new gear I kept the Trangia, adding my cutting board for the old one and my rain jacket, while sending home the new sleeping bag, mat, helmet and the new Ortlieb pannier bags along with some old gear I didn’t need anymore. Postage wasn’t cheap to Australia but my travel insurance covered it and Emirates is giving me some money as well. But not enough to cover the cost of purchasing all items in Madrid, when I assume my bag was lost.
Cycled back to Atocha railway station to catch train to Chamartin station, with the Australian Embassy located across a freeway, on a floor of a high rise tower along with a few other embassy. It did require some security to get in, needing a key card from security to get up. Once inside was straight forward voting and then I raced back to Chamartin just in time to catch train to Burgos, buying a ticket a the ticket machine as there was a long line for buying tickets from a person and hoping bicycle spaces where available as the machine didn’t offer bike ticket as an option. All tickets machines I have found have language selection options so usually it is simple to use. Ended up offering to paying conductor 3 euros for bike ticket, when I think he wasn't going to bother to charge me.
Got on train easily and was able to relax for nearly 5 hours as we first climbed our way out of Madrid taking a scenic rail route with views to my left of valleys below before landscape flattened out. A French cyclist was on as well, he had cycled from Pau in France to Madrid and was training back the whole way via Irun.
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My reason for choosing to start my northern Spain ride in Burgos is because a few Vias Verdes (Rail trails) start on the edge of the city, some are still being developed. Burgos current railway station is located northeast of the city on the outskirts of the city because the old station and rail right of way on the southern side of the river near the city center has been removed. Burgos has many cycle paths including beside rivers and was able to use them to get into the city centre. Burgos is located on the main religious walking route in Spain called the Camino de Santiago. Therefore, religion is a major focus for the town as brochures in the both tourist offices focused on religion, while nether had no information on any of the Vias Verdes in the area.
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Randomly on Tuesday afternoons the large cathedral is free to visit so went in finding a large area to see with lots of different religious statues and art works with numerous tourists. Was nice to see it but all cathedrals look the same after a while. Nearby was a free army museum which generally just focused on army equipment rather than any critical information on Spanish history. With most things closing at 7pm decided to leave and find a place to camp.
Thankfully bicycle path took me out of town but ended in industrial area near where the bypass railway line goes around Burgos but I was able to find a gravel track that lead over the freeway bypass where the former railway line becomes visible and is able to be cycled roughly through farm land. Soon coming across a former station located not far from small town of Villarmero. It looked okay to leave bike inside despite no roof, inside is two lounge chairs so was able to relax here while cooking dinner. Around me a farmer was driving his tractor around small paddocks with a small plough on the back. During the evening a few cyclist and walkers went pasted using the former rail line. Wasn't much in town to see but I did go for a small walk.
Today's ride: 30 km (19 miles)
Total: 1,540 km (956 miles)
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